And the Greatest Gift of all is Love
by BlueNynaeve
Summary: My entries in the Holiday Fic Exchange on ag-fics at livejournal. Random genres. Ratings start at K and go up with each chapter (check title).
1. Play First, Cookies Later (K)

Prompt: A Sleigh Ride

**Play first, Cookies later – PG – Drama – No warnings, except for scant A/G**

Arthur gained the top of the long hill, yelling encouragement to his lagging group of knights plus Merlin. He had been breaking ground through the thigh deep snow for the last hour and, on this gorgeous sunny day, the weight of his chainmail and half plate armor brought a ruddy glow to his cheeks, despite the below-freezing temperatures.

"Sometimes a man just has to get out and be a man!" Arthur shouted to the crystalline blue sky, conveniently ignoring every other day when he and his knights whacked at each other with heavy weaponry.

"What? Stupid enough to leave the comfort of hearth and home AND THE COOKIES to the women?" Gwaine asked, leaning over and panting heavily as he stopped by Arthur's side.

Elyan consoled Gwaine, neither quite as worn out nor as bitter, "Don't worry. They won't eat them all, 'cause they're afraid for their figures. After all, they didn't burn off energy slogging their way through EVERY deep drift of snow from here to Camelot wearing EVERY piece of metal they own."

Percival threw in gently. "It wasn't so bad." He had had to lead in the beginning, but with someone else breaking trail, his long legs were a distinct advantage.

Leon gained the summit as well, hauling the sack of helmets, extra weapons, and food he had taken from Merlin who was still a good hundred yards down the slope. "It IS good training."

Arthur grinned, "That's the spirit, Percival, Leon. A beautiful day, vigor in a man's limbs, and the ANTICIPATION of cookies, Gwaine."

"You can't have anticipation, if there ARE NO COOKIES LEFT! Have you had Gwen's gingerbread? Do you know how fast it disappears?" With both hands, Gwaine scraped his hair back against his head in agitation.

Arthur smirked, "Ah, but she always gives ME gingerbread*. Merlin! Hurry it up there! Especially since I see Leon took over your job."

Merlin had halted about fifty feet down the slope and was looking down the mile-long treeless slope to where the road emerged from the forest, his head cocked in a listening attitude. The tallest towers of Camelot were just visible over the tops of the trees to the south.

"C'mon, Merlin, you can't think of turning back now. You're almost here." Arthur cajoled him.

The rest of the knights looked at Merlin, and unconsciously turned towards Leon who immediately started passing out helmets and weapons. Despite his continued encouragement to Merlin, peppered with annoyed verbal abuse, Arthur automatically girded himself as well. After a few minutes Merlin turned back around, shrugging and grinning sheepishly, before continuing his slow climb to the summit.

The knights relaxed and spread out at the top of the broad peak, practicing lunging and evading in the deep snow. Soon most of the slope was crossed with the complicated patterns of attack and riposte, dotted with the occasional body-length depression. Merlin kept warm by continuously moving the food bag and himself out of the way of aggressive swinging.

The warlock surveyed the still sparring knights. One thing he and Gwen had recently noticed about their training was that they only fought shoulder to shoulder as a group during tournament melees or in emergencies. Usually they practiced against each other, not with each other. He had lately been thinking about how to remedy this situation to give them more experience, and the snowy tableau spread out in front of him seemed perfect.

Quickly scanning the group to make sure none of them noticed him, Merlin whispered a spell under his breath. Seconds later a half dozen snow golems roared from the far side of the summit field. They spread out, slowly herding the knights with awkward swipes of their long ape-like arms. Before long, the knights were in a loose grouping at the top of the slope they had climbed.

Soon the knights discovered that they could chip away at the mass of the snow golems. If a knight cut too deep in a solid part of the golem, then their weapons would get stuck. But if the knight could shave off a piece anywhere on the monster, then the chipped off snow would fall to the ground inanimate. Once they discovered that, the knights worked to cut one monster off from the rest, hacking away at its legs until it fell to the ground useless. Then they would move a short distance away, out of arms reach, and start in on another one.

The fighters had dismembered about half the golems when Merlin finally got tired and wandered back to the top of their earlier ascent. Looking back down at the road, he saw a sleigh pulled by a quartet of horses. In the sleigh were a few people he could not quite identify, but the deep blue cape could only be Gwen, the Queen.

The sleigh stopped simultaneously with a frisson from a much older magic. Merlin thought it felt a bit like the great dragon, but he wasn't anywhere near here. Turning back to the knights a movement at the top of one of the near peaks caught his eye. If he had to talk down another dragon in front of Arthur, his secret would be out.

Turning back to the knights, Merlin whispered another spell, dumping them on their backs and speeding them down the slope. Most of them were wearing chainmail which made it hard for them to slide naturally, but with just a touch of his magic they skimmed across the top of the snow. Arthur, Percival, and Leon kept their eyes on the golems for the first part of the descent; Elyan and Gwaine sounded like they were either panicking or having way too much fun.

Merlin released the snow golems. Hopefully the summoning magic was what had roused the creature, and now that he had released it, the ancient might lose interest. He should have guessed after the egg that there was something resident in these mountains, regardless of the twisted words of the Great Dragon.

After a moment of watching the peak, the budding sorcerer detected no movement and the feeling of dragon faded. Merlin turned back down the slope seeing that the knights were more than halfway down. He waited another moment until they were almost to the sleigh and let go of the magic that made them human sleds.

Now what was the fastest way to get himself down?

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A scant minute later, Merlin shook himself dizzily out of the snow piled against the side of the sleigh that used to be a human-sized snowball. He surveyed the results of their little adventure.

Guinevere looked down at Arthur, cradling his head in her lap. She had removed his helmet and was stroking his sweaty blond hair back from his forehead.

"Arthur, what were you doing? I drove out thinking you might enjoy a ride back in my sleigh once you were done with your manly pursuits, and here I find you trying to be a sleigh."

From a few feet over, Gwaine moaned pitifully, "Forget about the ride, did you bring us cookies?"

Gwen looked up from her gentle ministrations. "Yes, Gwaine. Sefa has the cookies in the sleigh."

The knights hopped up from their prostrate positions in the snow, mobbing her maid for cookies, all except for Arthur.

He goofily smiled up at his Queen, happy now to settle down wherever she was.

* * *

_A/N: * Yes, THAT gingerbread… :) Read kbrand5333's entries for the same fic exchange for the reference._


	2. Under the Unspecified Conifer (K)

Prompt: Under the Christmas Tree

**Under the Unspecified Conifer: Comfort – G – Kid!fic – No warnings**

It felt like Arthur had been wandering for hours. He did not remember why he had run from his nanny earlier, just that he had been very angry. And he could not retrace his steps because the blowing wind had already obliterated all but the last ten feet of his footsteps in the thin covering of snow on the ground.

The whistling of the wind through the trees was everywhere. Sometimes he could hear the sounds of someone crying.

The boy searched for the crying person. His father had told him that it was his responsibility to care for the kingdom. Arthur hoped that he would be able to help. Maybe the crying person could help him too. Arthur was starting to get cold and a little hungry, and if he missed supper with his father, his father would be very angry.

Arthur looked around. Most of the trees were tall and leafless oaks and elms. But a short distance away was a funny little triangular tree, still green and dense, looking very prickly. It did not look like anything that the six-year old had ever seen before. When a flash of blowing blue cloth showed on one side of it, Arthur trudged over to look.

The cloth was part of a dress worn by a girl his size. She was sitting on the ground, face and arms tight against her knees so that she was a little ball. She was crying so hard, she had not heard him approach. Her long dark hair in a braid lay over her coatless shoulder.

Arthur did not know what she was crying about, but he worried about how cold she was. He wore his red cloak, Pendragon crest sewn on the shoulder just like a real knight, and he was cold. Arthur sat down next to the girl and carefully arranged his cloak over her shoulders. It was a little hard to do, because she startled in the middle of his operation, and messed up what he had already done. But eventually he managed to put the cloak over both of them, holding it there with his arm around her back. He rubbed her shoulder and arm, like his nanny did to him when he took a tumble.

He was glad he was sharing his cloak. Now he was much warmer. Sitting next to the little triangle tree and the girl, he did not feel the wind so much. And she had stopped crying so hard, although he could see tears running down her chubby brown cheeks as she stared through the forest.

"Girl, why are you crying?"

She turned to look at him, her pretty brown eyes shiny wet. "My name is Gwen."

"Gwen." He thought that was a pretty name. He thought she was pretty. He smiled the smile that usually got him a smile from his nanny. "Why were you crying?"

She sighed and dropped her face back onto her knees. He could barely hear her answer, "My mama died."

"Oh." Arthur knew it was a bad thing whenever anyone died, but since he had never known his mama, it was not that bad. At least it was not as bad as not having a pony. Still, she was sad, so he should try to cheer her up.

"Winter Solstice is tomorrow. You'll have fun getting presents."

She kept her head down as she shook it back and forth. He could feel her big inhale and sigh. "I don't think so. My papa is really sad and I don't know if he'll remember. And Elyan wants presents, and he's littler so he should get them. I miss my mama." Gwen started crying again.

Arthur didn't know what to say so he went back to rubbing her shoulder. She cried for what felt like forever. The snow on the ground was pretty.

"I'll share my nanny with you." That didn't seem to make any impression on her.

"I don't have a mother either, but my nanny is very nice. She brings me food and gives me hugs and sings to me at night and helps me with my reading." He could tell the little girl was listening now, she was not crying so hard anymore, even though she had not raised her head. "She'll give you hugs and sing to you and help you read."

Gwen looked at him then and smiled. She had a nice smile. "All right."

Arthur smiled back, relieved that the girl was better, but then he frowned. He did not know how to get back to his nanny. "She's in Camelot. Do you know how to get there?"

"Yes."

"Let's go."

Arthur stood up and helped Gwen to her feet. She stumbled a little and whimpered, "My feet hurt."

"Must be asleep. Too much sitting. Walking will help." Arthur told her what his nanny always told him. He knew how much it hurt to start walking on asleep feet, so he grabbed her hand to help her. Also, he was a little worried that she would be cold again without his cloak.

"Are you cold? Do you need my cloak?" He did not want to give it up, but sometimes you had to do things that you did not want to do.

Gwen smiled at him. "No, thank you. I'm not cold."

She started walking, tugging him along by his hand. He liked walking with her through the forest – she knew where she was going. He found out about her father, the blacksmith near the pump, and her brother who sounded like a lot of fun. Arthur wanted a brother. He told her his name and about his two friends that he had lessons with and about his father who was also sad.

When they reached the gates of Camelot, Arthur was mad that he could not take Gwen to his rooms to meet his nanny. Sir Gorlois picked him up and began riding up to the castle. That was fun.

It took Arthur until the day after Winter Solstice to walk down to Gwen's house with his nanny. She packed a basket of food and clothes, and Arthur added the rest of his favorite candy that he had saved from the feast for Gwen and her brother.

When they arrived, Gwen's father opened the door and Arthur's nanny explained why they were there. Soon Arthur had supervised a nice hug for Gwen and Elyan and they had eaten from nanny's basket and cleaned up. After that, they played. Gwen taught him a funny game called draughts and he told a story about some of the knights' feats, using her doll to illustrate the moves.

When they left a few hours later, he told his nanny that it was more fun to share things like Gwen did with Elyan. Playing today had been even better than opening presents on Winter Solstice. He hoped they could come back. His nanny smiled, so maybe they would.

But after he told his father, they never did.


	3. Together with You (K)

Prompt: Ring ting tingling too!

**Together with you – G – Romance/Humor – No Warnings**

_Just hear those sleigh bells jingling,  
Ring-ting-tingling, too.  
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride  
Together with you.  
Outside the snow is falling  
And friends are calling, "Yoo-hoo!"  
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride  
Together with you. _

"Yoo-hoo, Gwen! Come out and play with us! The new snow is going to be awesome for sledding," called Merlin.

Finals had just ended that morning, and this would be the last chance they would get to play together before heading back to their homes for the winter break.

Gwen called down from her college dormitory window, "Merlin! The last time I went sledding with you, I was black and blue all over for a week!"

"Awwwh! If you don't, then Arthur-the-Prat and his gang of trust-fund hockey buddies are going to try and take over the hill again," Lancelot piped up.

"And how would I prevent said hill from being taken?"

"Beause Arthur always pays attention to you, Gwen. If you tell him to be nice, then he will. And if he is, then his friends will be."

"I think you're mixing me up with Morgana, Merlin. Arthur barely pays attention to me, and he's said point-blank that Morgana is beautiful."

Gwen knew better than to believe her biased friend: Arthur was so handsome, athletic, and rich. Any time he was around, he had women and men of his own kind fawning all over him. Gwen and her friends were mostly merit scholars – the two groups just did not mix socially. The only reason she had even met him was because her roommate Morgana was his kind – beautiful, athletic, and rich.

Merlin gave Gwen a disgusted look, "You're so shy around Arthur most of the time, Gwen. How can you even see what he notices?"

"Morgana may be beautiful, Gwen, and she may catch the eye faster, but for Arthur – you're the one he heeds," Lancelot added, not mentioning that it was Gwen he thought beautiful.

Gwen capitulated, "Fine, I'll come out sledding. But, I better be intact by the end of it!"

_Giddy-yap, giddy-yap, giddy-yap, let's go,  
Let's look at the show  
We're riding in a wonderland of snow.  
Giddy-yap, giddy-yap, giddy-yap, it's grand,  
Just holding your hand. _

As it turned out, only their friend Gwaine was at the big hill when they trudged up. Pretty soon he and Lancelot were racing each other on discs, trying to play bumper cars on the way down, and sprinting back up the hill. That left Gwen and Merlin in their two person sled to work on packing down an icy rut for greater speed and distance.

Gwen shrieked in wild delight as she and Merlin flew down the slope on the thin sheet of blue plastic. As they passed the tall stand of trees three-quarters of the way down, a gust of wind blew snow into their faces. Blinded, Merlin panicked and tried to slow them. Instead they drifted right over the edge of their run and onto the roots of one of the trees. Catching air, Gwen and Merlin both lost contact with the sled and tumbled down the rest of the slope independently.

Gwen lost track of Merlin in her uncontrolled roll. She finally managed to get her hands out to the side to start skidding down the hill, trying to dig her elbows into the packed icy trail to no avail. She came to an abrupt rest against a pair of legs in high-end black GoreTex snow pants.

"Gwen! Are you all right?" Arthur bent down to help her up.

Despite the twinge in her side where his shins had impacted her ribs, Gwen started giggling and could not stop. She was dizzy from all of the rolling and kept listing to the side. Arthur held her up by main force and began to chuckle with her.

Sometime during the tumble, she had lost her hat, so he took off his gloves and began combing the snow out of her loose, curly hair. When he let go of her, Gwen had to grasp thick handfuls of his red parka to keep herself upright.

She looked up into his face, too dizzy to feel self-conscious, "I think we made it fast enough. Want to try?"

"Hmmm? Try what?" His blue eyes settled on her brown ones, spearing through her blurry view of his blond handsomeness so close above her.

"Our sledding run. Merlin and I set up a fast one." Suddenly, Gwen realized who she was talking to and her usual shyness in his presence hit her like a freight train. "I mean, umm, if you are sledding. You, ummm, don't have to…"

Arthur grinned down at her, "I would love to." He didn't let her reply, but took her mittened hand in his own ungloved one and started hauling her up the slope towards where Merlin was still sprawled face up next to the upside down sled.

_We're gliding along with a song of a wintery fairyland.  
Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy-cozy are we.  
We're snuggled up together  
Like two birds of a feather would be.  
Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two.  
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride  
Together with you. _

At the top of the hill, Arthur settled himself on the sled and helped Gwen sit down in front of him. He was so much bigger than Merlin that she felt surrounded by him and warm, so warm.

Out of the corner of her eye, Gwen saw one of Arthur's cronies shove Gwaine from behind. Lancelot gave the perpetrator a face full of snow and was about to be tackled. Gwen turned to Arthur sharply, "Arthur, tell your friends to play nice."

Arthur followed her gaze and called out, "Oy! Mates! Play nice! The enemy is the mountain!" He watched until his friends gave him waves of acknowledgement, before turning back to the woman in his arms.

"Sorry, I know there's some bad blood there. Should've said something earlier," Arthur acknowledged ruefully.

Gwen turned sideways in his arms to look at him, "You're a nice person, Arthur. I know you'll figure out how to spread that goodwill."

His face was so close to hers, noses almost touching, the deep blue of his eyes so much darker than the icy bright blue of the skies surrounding them. "You're the only one who thinks so, Gwen."

The moment stretched until Arthur shook himself a little and gave her a cocky smile. "So let's see if this run is as fast as you say."

Gwen turned to face forward, leaning back into his broad chest. Arthur tightened his arms around her and said, "Hang on!"

_There's a birthday party at the home of Farmer Gray.  
It'll be the perfect ending of a perfect day.  
We'll be singing the songs we love to sing  
Without a single stop,  
At the fireplace while we watch the chestnuts pop.  
Pop! Pop! Pop! _

Three perfect runs later, they met Merlin at the bottom of the slope. Gwen told him excitedly from her sledding position in Arthur's arms, "I think the run is even faster with Arthur!"

"Then you'd better slow down on the Christmas cookies, Prat!" Merlin, feeling safe in Gwen's presence, grinned widely as Arthur growled his reply.

"Merlin! Arthur's body is perfect!" Gwen protested without thinking. There was a pregnant pause, where what she said seemed to echo in the brilliant sunny day. As soon as what she had just said hit her, Gwen gasped and sat bolt upright, trying to distance herself from the perfect body behind her.

Arthur gave a huge shout of laughter, not allowing her to wallow in embarrassment. Letting go of the sled rope, he pulled her backwards with an arm across her chest. Then putting his other arm underneath her thighs, he pulled her onto his lap sideways. Thankfully this removed the mirthfully doubled-up Merlin from her view.

"Thank you, Guinevere!" He tilted her chin up so she could see his delighted smile. "Would you like to go to a caroling party with me tonight?"

Gwen gaped up at Arthur, "What?"

"Come to a caroling party with me tonight. I know you have a beautiful voice, Gwen. Your friends can come too."

"Umm, all right." Gwen was having a hard time believing the invitation, but Merlin had side-stepped back into her view and was nodding vigorously.

"Great! It's at Vivian Olafsdottir's at 7." He smiled down at her. "We can meet at your place at 6:45 and walk over together."

_There's a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy,  
When they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie.  
It'll nearly be like a picture print by Currier and Ives.  
These wonderful things are the things we remember  
All through our lives! _

Sometime close to midnight, Arthur walked Gwen up to her door. A ways behind them, Morgana and Merlin had stopped to have some sort of weird salsa dance-off in the middle of the street. He bent and kissed her chastely on the cheek, "Thank you for coming with me tonight."

She smiled shyly up at him. "I had fun. Thank you for inviting us."

Arthur laughed down at her, "I invited you, Gwen. I just didn't think that you would come, if I didn't invite your friends too."

"Oh." Gwen realized that he had been right. She probably would have turned his invitation down, due to sheer discomfort with her attraction.

Their friends had mixed surprisingly well, once Arthur had made it clear to a couple of people that bigoted comments and actions would not be tolerated. After that, only Vivian's jealousy had colored the rosiness of the evening. The hostess had clearly invited Arthur with herself in mind. He in turn had made it clear that Gwen was his date by staying by her side and holding her hand whenever possible.

Plus the singing had been fun. The party had walked around a couple of nearby neighborhoods. Bundled up in caps and gloves, holding caroling books, they had been the epitome of holiday spirit.

"Would you like to get together sometime after we return from the break?" Arthur looked uncharacteristically nervous.

Gwen shrugged, trying to act casual, "Sure. That would be fun. I'll be back on the 7th. Why don't you give me a call when you arrive back in town." She pulled out her phone to punch in his number.

Arthur told her his number which she promptly called so he had hers. Once he had saved her contact information, he visibly brightened, "OK, I'll call you. Umm, thanks again."

Gwen smiled bemusedly, "No, thank you. And good night."

Gwen stood there, looking up at him, waiting for him to leave so she could enter her dorm room, when he bent down to kiss her. His lips touched hers; she could feel the sizzle down to the tips of her fingers. She did not ever want to stop, slightly embarrassed as she realized he was pulling away.

Her shocked eyes looked up into his dazed ones. Arthur swallowed and looked away, then back at her. "I must go."

Gwen was still standing at the door, gazing at the far wall unseeing, when Merlin and Morgana stumbled up to her.

_Just hear those sleigh bells jingling,  
Ring-ting-tingling, too.  
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride  
Together with you.  
Outside the snow is falling  
And friends are calling, "Yoo-hoo!"  
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride  
Together with you._

Three years later, amidst the detritus of the caroling party they had just hosted, Gwen and Arthur opened their present from Merlin. When they saw what it was, they both started laughing helplessly. Merlin grinned from ear to ear, happy that they understood immediately.

Morgana plucked the Christmas ornament from Gwen's unresisting hands. Hung from a gold cord was a red bow and small bit of greenery above a four-inch long arc of blue plastic.

"What is it?" asked a completely confused Morgana.

Merlin mysteriously answered, "Just a sled - a thin, pathetic piece of plastic keeping one's butt scant millimeters off the snow."

Arthur frowned warningly at him, "Merlin! No insulting the reason Gwen and I got together."

Gwen corrected him teasingly, "No, love. That's the catalyst for getting us together. The reason we got together is because you're perfect."

Morgana was no less confused, but Arthur laughed lovingly down at his wife. "Guinevere, perfect is you."

Leaning against the base of the couch, legs outstretched, Arthur pulled Gwen's back against his chest in a tight hug, and kissed the nape of her neck.

* * *

_A/N: Lyrics from the dot-com site lyricsfreak: d/debbie+gibson/sleigh+ride... And yes, the #*&% song is still stuck in my #*&$*& head! _


	4. I Can't Explain (K)

Prompt: First A/G Christmas with their new baby...

**I Can't Explain – G – Family – Modern AU**

Llacheu was two weeks old and already Guinevere felt like she had never been anything but a parent. She and her husband Arthur were exhausted. Beyond the tired they had felt when they had pulled two all-nighters in a row back in college; beyond the fatigued they had felt when training for a marathon together.

"I think the best Christmas present I could possibly get right now, is a full night's sleep," joked Guinevere as Arthur stroked the downy dark head of their nursing baby. Most of Llacheu's features were already obviously from his father, but his coloring was purely from her.

Arthur smiled softly at his tired wife, "Lay down and maybe you can sleep while he is still nursing. I'll keep watch and put him back in his crib when he's done.

Guinevere told him, "All right. I'll just close my eyes for a few minutes. I just don't think I can get to sleep while he's nursing. It still hurts like the dickens." She felt Arthur smooth back a curl from her face as she closed her eyes.

What seemed like seconds later, Guinevere awoke with a start from vivid dreams of fishing her baby out from between the bed and the wall. The sun was shining brightly through the frost-rimmed windows. Neither Arthur nor Llacheu were anywhere to be seen. She checked the bedside clock – she had been asleep for five hours! Llacheu had never slept that long, hopefully he was still alive.

She pulled on a robe to go look for her boys, tamping down on all of the myriad fears over what could have happened. Her breasts felt engorged, so he must be starving now. Just because he was already back up to birth weight didn't mean he would stay there, did it?

Guinevere finally found Arthur and Llacheu by the Christmas tree that Auntie Morgana and Arthur's best friend Merlin had put up and decorated for them. The baby was in his Moses basket almost underneath the tree, smacking his lips and waving his fists up at the colored lights Arthur had plugged in. His snoring father lay supine next to him, one hand propped against the basket, the other flung above his head.

The new mother gingerly stepped over her husband and pulled her son from his bed. Sitting cross-legged next to the tree, she adjusted her robe to give her baby access to a sore nipple. Soon Llacheu's suckling induced the now familiar let-down and his swallows became deeper and more regular. She looked up to find Arthur watching her, a gentle smile adorning his handsome face.

"Best Christmas ever?" he asked her softly, putting his big warm hand on her knee.

Guinevere just smiled and nodded, holding the sweet smallness of her baby to her chest.

* * *

_A/N: The name Llacheu is from Sophie-Lou's stories on ffnet._


	5. Snow? Who Needs Snow? (K)

Prompt: Dashing through the snow

**Snow? Who needs snow? – PG – Romance/Humor – No Warnings (Multiple Eras)**

"Guinevere!"

She heard his shout just before 200 pounds of armor-clad male smashed her into the stone wall. A split second later, 2 tonnes of ice and snow smashed down where she had been about to tread.

"Are you all right?" he asked her, breathless from his dash across the snow-covered courtyard. Without waiting for her answer, he began patting down her limbs underneath her voluminous velvet cloak, searching for injuries.

She stopped him by pressing his cheeks between her palms. "Arthur, I'm fine." She held his deep blue eyes with her own brown ones while he tried to calm his breathing. "Thank you. You saved me."

"I just don't want to lose you." He kissed his Queen deeply then swung her up in his arms to transport her over the three foot pile of ice blocks. The King yelled over his shoulder at his approaching manservant, "Merlin! Get this cleaned up."

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"Arthur! You have to leave now. Cromwell's men are coming." A small patch of icy snow fell out of her dark curls to plop against his sleeping upturned face.

"What? Huh? Guinevere! What are you doing here? It's a blizzard out there!" Instantly awake, a useful habit during months of coordinating attacks on the run, he stood and began brushing the rest of the dripping snow from her hair and clothes. "Did you run all the way from town through this?"

"Arthur, nevermind that! You have to go now, they know you are here. I'll lead you to the tunnel entrance and you can hide in the gamekeeper's cottage at the edge of Morgana's estate. You cannot let them catch you! They're hanging anyone who is even rumored to be a Royalist!" She tried desperately to stop her weeping, flying around the room to collect his things thrown everywhere. "Where is Merlin? This place is a mess!"

At that Merlin came through the door, yawning and stretching. "Gwen? What's going on?"

By this time, Arthur was up and hopping into heavier trousers over his sleep breeches, "C'mon Merlin, dress warmly, the Roundheads are coming.

Ten minutes later, Guinevere led Arthur and Merlin to the tunnel entrance in the cellars. Her friend Morgana, the mistress of the manor, met them with food packed in a rucksack.

Merlin threw the two women a short wave and a shy grin, "Thanks for the roof for a bit. Sorry about the soldiers."

Arthur bowed over Lady Morgana's hand, kissing the back of it, "Thank you, my lady, for your hospitality. I hope that we may return it someday." Morgana graciously nodded in return.

"Arthur, please take care of yourself and Merlin," Guinevere breathed out, "for me."

He stared down at her, his greatest fear her death, not his own. Unable to speak, he bent and kissed her parted lips, then walked away without a word.

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"Oof!"

Arthur slid across the slush-covered cobblestones on his greatcoat-covered back, Morgana's companion Guinevere on top of him. The carriage thundered past spraying them with icy silt. Without her quick actions, Arthur would have been mincemeat underneath the hooves of the matching four grays.

The dangerously speeding carriage was owned by a certain Lord Cenred. Arthur's nemesis had been attempting to annex a corner of the blond lord's land for the last few months to build a railroad to his coal mines in the west.

They both lay in the gutter for long seconds, the cold water pooling against Arthur's side unnoticed. When the carriage skidded away from view around a corner, Guinevere let out the breath she had been holding. She quickly rolled off of the prostrate lord and stood up. "My lord, are you all right?" She held out a hand to help him up, her wool cape and skirts hanging limp and soaked around her.

He clasped her hand, but used his own powerful legs to lever himself from the ground. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Miss Thomas."

His sister's friend peered up at him anxiously, whispering, "Arthur? Are you sure? I'm sorry I had to knock you over like that."

"I'm fine, Guinevere." He led her over to the lee of a shop window, his sister Morgana and steward Merlin hurrying across the street towards them. Taking both her freezing hands in his own, he stooped to catch her eyes below the brim of her bonnet, noticing the shivers wracking her body. "You saved my life and now you are the one in danger of freezing."

Releasing her hands, he swung his greatcoat from his shoulders to her own. The huge greatcoat enveloped her smaller frame, the hem dragging on the ground. "Come, Miss Thomas, let's get you home and warmed up. I would hate to lose you." As he held the lapels of his coat closed under her chin and stared into the melting brown eyes looking back up at him, Arthur realized how improper that might sound to the hovering Morgana and Merlin, even though he meant every word. "To a chill, I mean," he added hastily.

She just gave him that slow smile through her lashes that always melted his knees, "No, no one should lose anyone today."

Arthur smiled back, then guided her towards a hack that Merlin managed to wave down. He bundled her in first, handing Morgana up next, and climbed in ahead of Merlin.

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Arthur handed Guinevere the bowl of popcorn. They leaned companionably against the edge of the ottoman cum coffee table in front of the fire at Arthur's mountain cabin.

Despite having just met last night, the two got on quite well. There had been an instantaneous attraction from the moment Arthur's sister Morgana had dragged her new friend into her brother's annual holiday house-party. Their temperaments complemented each other's as well: Arthur had a tendency to issue high-handed orders; Gwen had laughingly taken every one of his orders in turn, ignoring, countermanding, or translating them into more palatable suggestions to everyone's delight including Arthur's.

Guinevere took a handful of popcorn and passed the bowl back. "So why didn't you want to join the others for a snowball fight? Given what a general you are, I would have thought a snow battle right up your alley."

Arthur shrugged, long jean-clad legs stretched out in front of him, "I don't know. Dashing through the snow just always seemed sort of fraught with danger. Kind of silly considering how many times I've been injured on the footie pitch and I'm not giving that up."

Guinevere hugged her knees and leaned her head against them, surveying him with large brown eyes. "Nooo, I know what you mean. I don't mind the snow so much if it's plowed, but if I've been walking in loose snow for a while, I get this huge paranoid adrenaline rush and have to check in every direction: up, down, and sideways."

"Yeah. Exactly." They sat staring at each other in silence for a bit, both trying to decide what to do with their attraction to the other. "Anyways, I'd rather be in here with you."

Guinevere slowly smiled, "And I with you." She pointed upward at the small green sprig hung with a red ribbon. Since last night, some mischievous imp had been seeding mistletoe in the most random spots. Arthur didn't want to know how the prankster had hung the one stuck to the two-story vaulted ceiling above them. "May I?"

Rather than responding, Arthur simply leaned in and kissed her. When he pulled back to look into her eyes, she clambered astride his legs, and licked into his willing mouth.

...

Outside, Merlin saw them through the window and called, "Time!"

To a chorus of groans, Morgana danced in delight, mittened hands waving excitedly above her head, "Seventeen minutes before they kissed! I win!"


	6. Yellow Press is Not for Wimps (K)

Prompt: Morgana puts a curse on Camelot sending them all in a alternate world (like in Once Upon A Time). A/G manage to find themselves attracted to each other and feel like they know each other after standing under a mistletoe...

_A/N: I've never seen Once Upon A Time so I went Victorian era instead..._

**Yellow Press is Not for Wimps - K - Romance - No Warnings**

"Excuse me, miss, you dropped your book."

Guinevere turned around to the most gorgeous man holding out her newly acquired copy of the complete "Idylls of the King." He wore a felted top hat over tousled blond hair, his sideburns long enough to set off his high cheekbones and draw the eye straight to his full red lips. Not that she was noticing his lips, after all it would be inappropriate to think about how kissable they looked. She might be an independent lady typist with a good job in the City, but kissing a man she had just encountered was still not acceptable. No, she was going to completely ignore how attractive this man was and certainly was going to ignore how broad shouldered and athletic he was underneath his well cut grey wool suit and silver silk ascot.

As she responded with a shy "Thank you," the arriving train screeched to a halt and valve-released a loud blast of steam, completely obliterating her reply even to her own ears.

He bent closer, spearing her with questioning blue eyes. She could not hear his response either over the noise of the disembarking train, but his lips were easy enough to read. "Pardon, I did not hear you."

"I said, thank you. I should be sorry to lose this book, I just bought it and have not yet finished it," she said into his ear. He smelled delicious, the soft skin underneath his ear drawing her attention. In order to hear each other over the station's noise, they were practically embracing, the lapels of her cotton duster coat brushing against his.

He glanced down at the book and then back again at her. "It is worth reading, although Tennyson does no favors to the queen. Nor the king for that matter, if his wife is so disloyal."

Her attention arrested at the sad and knowing look in his eyes, "I have not gotten that far yet, but perhaps there is an explanation for what she has done. I do not think that Mallory was kind to her either, and yet I cannot believe that she would betray her beloved so abruptly." She added tartly,"More than likely, these male authors have blamed her for everything while the king, their male counterpart, is left blameless."

A laugh blossomed across his face, "I have read Ms. Austen's thoughts in that vein as well and will acknowledge you are likely correct."

Guinevere smiled up at him, illogical relief at his response settling her nervous attraction. He continued smiling down at her from far too close and yet not close enough, her own answering smile a helpless response until someone reached out and punched his shoulder. Guinevere looked over into a new set of blue eyes, not quite as intense as the blond god's, this time surrounded by a hatless mop of dark hair and a pair of even sharper cheekbones.

"Arthur, we had better board now, the train will be leaving in a few minutes."

"Just a minute, Merlin. Miss, are you boarding this train as well?"

Guinevere gaped up at the gentleman. Arthur? Merlin? Were those their real names? Or was it a code they were using to draw her in? She had not noticed being followed earlier, but it was extraordinarily convenient that a man named Arthur would return her book. From the looks of him, he could easily overpower her let alone someone much bigger than she.

The newspapers had lately been filled with tales of serial killers, and although she instinctively felt like she should trust this man with her life, that must be how these murderers could be so successful. First they gain the trust of their victim, then they strangle her and dispose of the body.

"Miss? Is this your train?" The gentleman was starting to look concerned at her silence. He reached out to cup her shoulder and she flinched away, panic warring with attraction. When she did so, his face fell and he retreated a step, his shoulders slumping. "Well, good-bye. Enjoy your book." Arthur turned away towards the first class Pullman cars and Merlin followed, carrying two bags.

Guinevere stared after them, feeling abandoned and regretful for hurting the man's feelings, before the final warning whistle shocked her out of her dismayed reverie. She grabbed her own small portmanteau and boarded the train. The lady settled on a hard bench in the coach car, reminding herself that a more comfortable sleeper berth was well outside of her meager budget.

In actuality, she should not have spent so much of her meager cash on this trip, but London was so dreary with soot in the winter, she had not seen Morgana since school although they exchange letters faithfully, and Christmas-time was when she missed her father and brother the most. So when her office in London had unexpectedly closed for the Christmas week, her boss Mr. Gaius dismissing everyone midday on Christmas Eve with a large bonus cheque and a gay "Don't come back until after New Year's!," the whole thing had seemed like an omen to take a trip somewhere beautiful and welcoming.

Nine hours later the train pulled into a deserted Penrith station, lit only by a single gas lamp, and Guinevere was cursing herself for not having waited on an answer from Morgana before setting off on her trip.

To top it all off, the only other people who disembarked with her were the two potential serial killers. The golden gentleman had seemed so nice when he approached her to return her book. And now she was going to die. At Christmas, of all times.

Guinevere stood on the platform, straightening her back firmly as she watched the two out of the corner of her eye. If she was going to die, she was going to do so with dignity, trying not to stare as the two men argued in hushed tones. Finally the dark one threw up his hands and allowed himself to be turned by the blond one and pushed towards her.

Merlin approached her, pulling his red scarf tighter about his neck against the cold. "Uh, ma'am, Arthur would like to make sure that you reach your destination safely. Will you be picked up by someone?"

Guinevere tried to firmly rebuff his question, but started babbling as she always did when she was nervous. "Yes! Yes? Well, really, I don't know. I mean, I did write Morgana that I was coming, but I did not wait for a reply and you know, sometimes the post is not very reliable, so maybe she didn't even receive my missive and doesn't even know I'm here and I've never been here before and..."

Merlin listened to her ramble with a growing smile on his face. "Well, this is perfect. We're heading to Gorlois Castle as well and Morgana sent us a carriage. It is just around the corner, if I may." Merlin gestured at her bag.

"Oh, that's wonderful. Yes! Thank you! I am so relieved." Guinevere smiled brilliantly at Merlin and he smiled back puckishly, before bending down to pick up her bag.

"I'm Merlin, by the way. And that clotpole over there is Arthur Pendragon, the Earl of Lonsdale."

As they approached Arthur, Guinevere started babbling her reply. "I know. Well not that Arthur is an Earl, but that your name and his are Merlin and Arthur. It's actually why I was so frightened earlier. My name is Guinevere Leodegrance and given the book I was reading, when I heard your names it just all seemed like too much of a coincidence and well there is that tale of the serial killer that has been in the newspapers and it must all have been a mistake..." By this time she was addressing most of this to Arthur himself, her words tripping over themselves and her fingers unconsciously twisting together.

"Guinevere." Arthur cut through the torrent of words, her name a delicious rumble on his lips, then reached out and enveloped her hands with his. "I'm sorry we frightened you. I would never knowingly cause you harm."

Guinevere looked up at him through her lashes. "I know. I... trust you. Instinctively. It just.. scared me a little how much."

Arthur looked solemn. "Thank you. I can't tell you how much that means to me."

They stared into each other's eyes, hands joined, oblivious to the frosty star-filled night around them until Merlin cleared his throat. "Ahem. Cold here. Let's get to Morgana's."

The ride from station to castle was congenial. Guinevere found that she had quite a bit in common with both men, and the ride passed quickly. The carriage halted in a grand portico in front of an even larger manor. As Arthur solicitously handed her out of the carriage and led her into the house, she gasped in awe. "I had no idea that Morgana was so elevated."

Arthur shrugged. "She is my cousin. Plus her father was a very successful financier." He caught her eyes again with his direct blue gaze. "But money is not what makes the worth of a person. Skill and a good heart are more valuable than gold."

She straightened her shoulders again, catching Merlin's nod of approval as she did so. Merlin kissed her cheek and then pointed upwards at the ribbon-decked kissing ball hanging from the central chandelier, "Mistletoe. Y'know the Druids thought that your true love's kiss could break enchantments."

Guinevere felt Arthur's hand tighten over hers resting on his arm. "Right, Merlin. You and your magic lore. But. I do like the kissing tradition." Arthur bent his head swiftly to hers and kissed her lips. Instead of the intended quick peck, their lips softly clung. Guinevere clutched Arthur's shoulders, his arms slid around her back above her bustle, pulling her tightly against his broad chest. "My husband," startled through her fragmented thoughts.

A scream of rage ended the kiss and pulled their attention to Morgana racing down the stairs towards them, her face contorted beyond recognition by ugly emotion. Arthur and Guinevere maintained their arms about each other; the single thought filled both their minds that if either let go, they would lose each other for all eternity. The thought was bolstered by Merlin's hands on both their backs, pushing them towards each other.

As the vestibule swirled into a magical multi-colored vortex around them, she heard Morgana's shrill voice say, "How do they find each other every time?!"


	7. 1 of 2 - Claim Your Name (Kplus)

Prompt: Mod Note: Please re-post this prompt and sign in to your username. It clearly states in the rules that you must be signed in to prompt.

**Claim Your Name - PG - Mystery/Humor - Lancelot alert! :)**

"Grrrr!"

Gwen grabbed the now familiar large box from the volunteer's hands. She marched the bulky cardboard cube across the bustling loading dock of the Salvation Army where she was volunteering during the early morning shift of the busy holiday season.

This was the fifth day in a row that someone had dropped off a generous donation of new brand-name clothes, fancy tinned food, and a large untraceable money order. It must be a single person, because the boxes were all identically signed Anonymous in large, bold block print. No one had seen who was dropping them off, and by this time everyone was on the lookout for the unknown donor.

The unclaimed donations were a lovely gesture, but also frustrating. All that extra cash spent on goods that could go towards more basic necessities which could be spread around to more needy people. Gwen wanted to lecture the donor: needs first, then wants. The economy had not been doing very well the last few years: charities were spread thin trying to serve all of the people who found themselves on the raggedy edge of not quite meeting their own basic needs.

Gwen thanked the Goddess that she had a good job at Camelot Enterprise Funds, lovely friends and family who could support her, and enough education to navigate her opportunities. And she knew that sometimes even that was not enough. She sighed. "Grateful!" she repeated her mantra, talking herself down.

When she dropped the box on the desk of the coordinator, her ire rose right back up.

"Another one? The bloke must be loaded. I wonder why he's doing this?" Her friend Merlin piped up from where he was collating donor acknowledgement letters at a folding table in the corner.

Merlin also worked at CEF as the personal assistant of the CEO's son and Vice President of Security, Arthur-the-Prat Pendragon. Since her manager Morgana was his sister and Vice President of Corporate Regulations and Ethics, Merlin and Gwen often worked together closely on projects. In fact, this season of volunteering was their joint idea to help their colleagues re-acquaint themselves with why they needed to be global citizens as well as careful with their clients' funds. The goodwill press that had been generated for CEF was simply how Gwen and Merlin had finagled the time allowance from management, especially at this crazy end-of-the-year period before fiscal reports were due.

"Why do you say he's a guy, Merlin?" Gwen asked, blowing a long curl off her forehead. She opened the box, digging out the slip of paper that was the money order. She whistled at the amount - it had increased yet again from yesterday.

"Because he's clueless, Gwen. Whoever is giving these seems to have good intentions, but hasn't made the leap to what they are for. I suppose it could be an equally clueless lady, but the clothes and food have all been ordered from a male taste perspective."

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The next Friday, Gwen picked up the tenth box in as many weekdays. The gossiping volunteers had by now figured out that the boxes were dropped off by an exclusive courier service who would not divulge the name of their client. 'Yet another unnecessary expense...,' she thought then immediately chastised herself, 'No, Gwen! Grateful! Grateful! Grateful!"

When she entered the coordinator's office, Merlin took one look at her face and said, "Gwen, you've got to let this go. A donor is a donor. And you can't fault the guy for being generous."

Gwen slammed the box down on top of the desk and practically hollered, "I know! We're ALL grateful to the man!"

"Who is this man who has gotten you so annoyed, Gwen?" Lancelot asked from the folding table opposite Merlin. They had stopped in the middle of assembling deposit slips for the cash donations, when Gwen had walked in. Lancelot always stopped whatever he was doing to give her attention. Gwen was starting to like it. A lot.

Plus, Lancelot had such lovely soft brown hair. He was just her type: compact and muscular without being overbuilt. Merlin had shown her a youtube video advertising Lancelot's mixed martial arts studio and that had been a glorious few minutes of eye-candy. What really attracted Gwen though, was the fact that he offered free tuition to the children that were referred to him through a number of charities and foster groups.

She sighed in annoyance, as she had no time for things like dating right now. Maybe she would see if he was free for dinner or a movie after the holiday and reporting season died down after the new year.

"Oh, just a mystery donor that seems to be as disconnected as he is wealthy," she replied, trying to make her voice a little more carefree than she felt.

Lancelot raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Well, we can't have someone upsetting you, Gwen."

Drats! Not as carefree a tone as she had been targeting apparently. "Oh, it's fine, Lance. I just have to remember that at least the guy is giving - so many cannot right now."

"Well, um, perhaps I could distract you then?" Lancelot looked hopefully up at her. "Would you like to go see a movie tonight?"

"She can't," Merlin replied before Gwen could. "We have our office Christmas party tonight which is mandatory for all staff. Sorry, Lance."

"Oh, maybe tomorrow night then?" Lancelot asked hopefully.

"Sure! That sounds great!" she replied, mentally rearranging her schedule to accommodate the extra make up work she had been hoping to do over the weekend.

Lancelot smiled, "OK, I'll pick you up at 5:30PM, if you give me your address."

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That night the office party was held in the four star penthouse restaurant of a downtown skyscraper.

Gwen was gossiping happily with Freya and Morgana when Merlin's boss Arthur reeled up. He held an almost empty bottle of champagne in one hand, a sprig of mistletoe in the other. Merlin trailed him, his expression alternating between an impish amusement and an anxious lookout for Arthur's father and CEO Uther.

Damn the man! Arthur might just be the hottest man that Gwen had ever set eyes on with his wide shoulders, high cheekbones, pouty lips, and deep blue eyes. Too bad he also acted like the most entitled ass she had ever known. Deep down, she knew he was a good person. It just frustrated her how rarely he acted it.

Arthur gave his sister a sloppy kiss on the cheek which Morgana immediately wiped off with a disgusted look. "Arthur! How much of that bottle have you drunk?"

Merlin answered for him, "All of it. He's been wandering around kissing every girl he can find, even the ones who could be his grandmother."

Gwen thought it was kind of sweet that Arthur was so democratic with his kisses. She watched the blond god of CEF throw a furtive glance at his PA, then give Freya perfunctory kiss on the brow. Thank goodness he was aware of Merlin's obvious interest in the accountant.

Then she realized that she should have made her escape while she could, because Arthur was coming at her with arms outstretched.

"Guinevere!" Arthur exclaimed happily. He clutched her to his warm, hard chest. His forgotten champagne bottle dug into her side. Boozily, he tried to hold the mistletoe above her head, but it just got caught in her curly locks.

"Whoops!" Arthur proclaimed, giving up on retrieving the greenery and swooping in for his original goal – her lips.

And then Gwen's world went dark and spinning and utterly wonderful.

Minutes or years later, Gwen found herself gently released onto her own two feet again. She stared up at the last man in the world that she would have expected to give her such a gentle and delicious kiss. Arthur stared back down, unexpectedly solemn.

"Umm, I must go." He turned to flee, but Morgana stopped him, slapping a hand on his chest.

"Wait, Arthur! You're not driving tonight, are you?"

The tall blonde mutely shook his head, while Merlin held up Arthur's keys. Morgana smirked, grabbing the keys from Merlin.

"I think we're going to claim a boon in exchange for that little display of childishness. Gwen will drive me home tonight and she'll return your car on Monday."

Arthur walked off without protest. Merlin shrugged, quickly detangling the mistletoe from Gwen's curls. Throwing an apologetic grin over his shoulder, Merlin tailed his boss towards the restrooms.

An hour later, Gwen trailed her own boss down to the garage in search of Arthur's very nice sports car. They both giggled over how ridiculously overpowered the engine seemed, even while Gwen was cataloging every detail of the experience to recount to her car-mad brother.

Gwen dropped Morgana off at her posh condo, then headed out to the suburban ranch house she had inherited from her father.

Driving alone on the dark roads, the kiss replayed in her mind over and over. So much so that she had a hard time concentrating on the magnificent machine at her disposal.

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The next morning, Gwen decided that, with Arthur's sports car sitting in her driveway, she would never be able to concentrate on her work let alone her date with Lancelot. She called Merlin to meet her at the office, which was fortunately a short walk from Arthur's very pricey building – Merlin could drive her back home after she finished up some projects.

Walking back out to the car, Gwen saw an open cardboard box wedged into the almost nonexistent back seat. Curious and disregarding how rude it was to poke in Arthur's things, she poked at it seeing the same clothes and food that her anonymous donor had been supplying.

Her mind reeling, Gwen let herself fantasize about the kiss and the implications of Arthur's clueless generosity.

Finally, she could take it no longer and sternly chastised herself – the man was rich, part of the family that owned the company that employed her and therefore well out of her reach, and socially sought after. Plus, after years of seeing his dates photographed in the local gossip rags, she knew she was not his type – his dates were generally blonde, beautiful, and rich like himself.

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On Monday, Gwen had take-out lunch with Morgana and Merlin in her office as she often did during the busiest times of the year. Morgana teased her about being Arthur's definitive kiss of the evening on Friday, or at least his final one. But Gwen downplayed Morgana's brother's affect on her, instead turning the subject to her date with Lancelot.

Merlin enthusiastically greeted the subject change, "Lancelot is great, Gwen! I totally approve of you dating him. I can't believe how nice it is to hang out with someone normal like him after cleaning up after a blue-blooded, entitled prat like my boss all day. No offense, Morgana."

"None taken, Merlin. I honestly don't know how you do it." Morgana paused, taking in Gwen's thoughtful look, "Alrighty, Gwen, that is your I-have-an-idea expression."

"Perhaps we're a little hard on Arthur," Gwen was interrupted by identical skeptical denials from her companions.

She persisted, "It's just that we tell Arthur when we have a problem with his plans, and he's supportive of the feedback. But in terms of his behavior, I know that you try, Morgana, but I don't think Merlin or I have ever told him point-blank what is wrong with it. Perhaps, if we gave him more direct feedback, he would act more like the nice person he is inside."

Morgana guffawed, "I'm not sure he is a nice person inside, Gwen."

Merlin thoughtfully acknowledged, "You could be right, Gwen. Maybe we should invite him to these lunches of ours."

He shook himself, "But enough of the prat. Details, Gwen! I want details of your date with Lancelot!"

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A week later, Arthur joined them during a late night reporting session and then again the next day for lunch. He even brought the take-out himself.

Gwen always had butterflies when Arthur joined them, but the subjects and flow of conversation remained the same as always. Except that now Gwen had to contend with Arthur's sometimes hilarious, often disapproving opinions of her dates in addition to Merlin and Morgana's. For someone who had been so thoughtless in the past, she was surprised by how well Arthur expected her dates to treat her.

Three months later, Merlin excitedly told Gwen that the clueless anonymous donor was Arthur, extolling philanthropy on a dare.

By then, it was too late.

Gwen had already quietly fallen in love with the generous and thoughtful man that Arthur was proving himself to be.


	8. 2 of 2 - Dancing Penguins (Kplus)

Prompt: Christmas Stockings. Take this any way you want...

**Dancing Penguins – PG – Romance – No warnings**

Arthur walked into his office and closed the door, leaning back against it. He banged the back of his head softly on the door several times before exhaling on a loud sigh. Staring out the window at the dusky Christmas Eve city-scape, he wondered if the last five minutes could possibly have been any more painful.

He had been desperately in love with his sister Morgana's personal assistant Gwen ever since last year's office Christmas party. A whole bottle of champagne, a sprig of mistletoe, and a kiss had completely changed the life of the 28-year old co-heir to the Pendragon banking empire, Camelot Enterprise Funds.

The old Arthur bought box seats at EPL games, ran around with complete prats from his Uni fraternity, and dated supermodels. The new Arthur gave money to charities (especially Gwen's favorite children's hospital), had stopped painting the town red, and had not dated the entire year except when his father had vigorously browbeat him into escorting so-and-so's daughter to such-and-such event. And this year during the Christmas party, he had drunk but a half glass of wine before he had caught her and only her beneath the mistletoe.

Gwen had not noticed that Arthur had basically changed around his life since their kiss.

On the other hand, Merlin had practically done cartwheels when Arthur had asked Gwen to dance. Merlin had been urging him to at least ask her out on a proper date, but Arthur just could not get up the courage to do so. His father would kill him, if he dated anyone that did not add to the prestige of the firm. His sister would kill him, if she thought that he was toying with her friend. And lastly, why would Gwen want to go out with an ass like him anyway.

Gwen seemed to want men who actually made the world a better place. Men like Lancelot who ran a mixed martial arts school serving under-privileged children or Gwaine who was a project lead with Doctors Without Borders. He had heard all about those two as well as a few other Gwen Thomas dating prospectives when he joined Morgana, Merlin, and Gwen for take-out lunches in one of their offices.

In short, Gwen wasn't interested in him. She had left the office party early, as soon as she had given him his ten blissful minutes of foxtrot, and he had not seen her again until today. The closest he was going to get to dating her was buying her a beer when she accompanied Morgana to the occasional Friday night destress session. The closest he was going to get to embracing her was just now, when he practically ran her over coming around the corner.

Thank goodness neither of them had been carrying anything, because Gwen had literally bounced off of his chest. Arthur had managed to save her from landing on the ground by grabbing her around her waist, her body pressed to his, her fluffy dark curls tickling his cheek.

He had laughed and made some slick comment that this was exactly the Christmas present he wanted: a beautiful woman in his arms. In return, she had looked up at him through her lashes, her warm brown eyes blazing through him so that he had felt hollowed out and warm. The moment stretched and turned into something that felt solemn and almost sacred to him, much like their kisses. Arthur had thought she might kiss him again, but that must have been the adrenaline rushing to his head.

Instead Gwen had muttered something about Morgana's present, and basically shoved him away. Then she had disappeared in a flash, just her handprints burning on his chest to mark her passage.

Arthur sighed.

Finally pushing off of the door, he rounded his desk to finish up the few emails he had left before he was due at his father's for his annual Christmas Eve eggnog soiree. On his chair was a small square green box, wrapped with a red bow. Inside was a pair of turquoise socks, covered with cavorting little bow-tied penguins. The socks were very cute, although obviously not something he would ever buy for himself.

That must have been what Gwen had been talking about, when she mentioned "Morgana's present". The family would exchange gifts tomorrow morning after services, but his sister must have thought he would need a little mood-lifter before the party this evening. Arthur was not anticipating this particular event this year. It was the one time of the year that his father's aunts would all descend on them at the same time, twittering about marrying him off to a suitable woman.

With the hopelessness of dating Gwen, fending off his aunts' lectures at this year's party was going to be excruciating.

So he would wear the socks. His father would disapprove of such frivolity, but his aunts might be distracted.

Resolved, Arthur untied his shoes and changed his socks. He turned back to work in a slightly better mood, wiggling his penguin covered toes.

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Arthur arrived punctually to his father's party, and walked into an already packed house just after his three aunts. Each of them demanded a kiss on the cheek and a warm hug in greeting. Arthur did love them, he just dreaded their lectures. Fortunately, they immediately noticed his socks and regaled him with tales of his mother's similarly silly Christmas gifts to his father.

An hour later, Arthur's head hurt from the number of stories about his mother and a man he had trouble reconciling with his father of today. He promised to send a waiter over with another round of eggnog as he escaped before they could start on the topic of his quest for a wife.

As Arthur grabbed another cup of eggnog from a passing waiter and directed him and his tray in the aunts' direction, a bare bejeweled arm slid around his waist. "We salute you, brother dear, for your sacrifice."

Morgana smirked at him, almost at eye-level in her five-inch platform heels. He put his arm about her shoulders, and quietly said in her ear, "They aren't too bad so far tonight. They got distracted by the socks you gave me."

Morgana looked surprised at his statement, but their father wandered up at that point, so she did not get a chance to reply.

"Ah, Arthur, Olaf tells me that you did a good job on his account." Uther grinned and told his son, "Don't worry. I won't make you socialize either with him or his daughter Vivian tonight. You deserve a bit of a rest."

Uther laughed, "Although it is high time you found a wife, Arthur. You are turning thirty this year. Provide me some grandchildren before I get to old to do any dandling!"

Morgana teased gently, "Father, you'll take any grandchildren and start them in on their accounting classes as soon as they recognize their numbers."

Surprisingly, Uther laughed again, "Ah, my dear, you've caught me. But don't think that I've forgotten you. You are a year and a half older than your brother. It is past time you were also providing me with a new generation of Pendragons. Although I'm not sure that I like your date this evening. Too impertinent by far."

Morgana gritted her teeth against a rude reply, but manage to keep hold of her smile. She leaned forward to kiss Uther's cheek. "Father, you cannot tell me to have babies and then proceed to dislike every man I introduce to you."

"Oh you two silly children, if you would just accept who I present you, then we would all be happy." Uther saw no problem with arranging his children's private lives as he did their careers.

"What if we find our soulmate, Father?"

Uther looked uncharacteristically sad. "Don't count on your soulmate for a productive marriage, my dears. First of all, there is no guarantee you will get along. Second, there is no guarantee that your soulmate will stay."

Uther plastered a wide smile on his face as one of his cronies clapped him on the shoulder. After waiting for the man to move on, he went back to his maudlin lecture. "It took me four years to convince your mother to marry me, and less than that for her to leave me."

Morgana broke the shocked silence, "Father, I thought that she died."

"Same thing," was the morose reply.

Uther visibly shook himself and hugged his two children to him. "Nevermind. You, young folk, go have some fun. I'm going to catch up with some more of my friends." He turned to another group, and chameleon-like, laughingly horned in on whatever jolly conversation was in progress.

Arthur and Morgana looked at each other, nonplussed by the weighty emotions the Pendragon patriarch had just dumped on them, until Morgana reached down and pulled up his trouser leg. "Cute socks, Arthur. I wouldn't have pictured you in something so adorable."

He cocked his head at his sister, "Well thanks for giving them to me."

Morgana shook her head in denial, "Not me."

The tall blonde gasped, excitement clutching in his chest, "Gwen! That's what she was doing."

"Arthur, I have no idea what you are talking about, but you do realize that you are going to have to ask Gwen out sometime this year, or I am going to end up killing you both."

"What?" Arthur stood there, heat from his blush burning up his cheeks to the tips of his ears.

"Don't think I didn't see the look on your face after you kissed her last year at the office party. And then you started eating lunch with us. And you are so much nicer to Merlin now. AND," she paused dramatically before delivering the coup de grace, "AND she was the only person you kissed at this year's office party. EVERYONE noticed that."

"But she doesn't like me. She thinks I'm an ass."

Morgana gave him a pitying look, "She's always talking about how you can make the office, the Fund, even the world a better place. How do you think you scored the airline account? Gwen was the one who figured out you had given a sizable donation to the charity that the controller was on the board of directors. She was the one who laid out the relationship building and I just pitched it to Father to give you a chance."

The airline account was by far the biggest deal Arthur had ever led, and an opportunity that he had not thought Uther would give him for years yet. Already signed, it was one of the biggest successes at CEF in the last few years.

"Oh." Arthur grinned at his sister with sudden hope. "All right, sister dear. I'll go ask her now."

+A+G+A+G+A+G+A+G+A+G+A+G+A+G+A+G+A+G+

Arthur strode up to the door of Gwen's house and knocked. Light and carol music poured out the fogged windows of the stylish ranch house.

Merlin peeked out, "Whoa! Arthur! This is an unexpected surprise."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Merlin. Were you expecting some other sort of surprise?" Arthur riposted, doffing his coat in the packed foyer. Singing people good-naturedly jostled out of the way to allow him entry.

Merlin grabbed Arthur's coat and unceremoniously shoved the expensive cashmere arm into an overstuffed closet. The brunette eagerly dragged his blond boss through the throngs. "C'mon, Gwen's this way."

With his height, Arthur could see Gwen in the kitchen, chatting gaily as folks munched and sang around her. He had rarely seen her so carefree nor so informal – she was clad in form-fitting jeans and a top that bared her arms and cleavage. This was a far-cry from the efficient and tailored Ms. Thomas he had held earlier this afternoon.

"Gwen, Happy Christmas. I didn't get a chance to wish you joy earlier today." Arthur smiled nervously down at his love, now thankful for the crowds that pushed them closer together, "And I wanted to see if you would accompany me to the New Year's Ball? Maybe coffee or a walk sometime before then?"

"You can't be serious! Is this some kind of joke, Arthur?"

"I'm totally serious! I have been wanting to ask you out for the last year. I've taken more interest in social causes, I've paid more attention to people and what they need, and I've been nicer to Merlin. All because of you, Gwen."

She shook her head in denial, "No, Arthur, you would have come around to do those things on your own."

He wasn't making her understand his intent - her faith in him was getting in the way of what he really wanted, which was her.

In desperation, Arthur blurted out the thing that every other woman in his life except for Guinevere had seemed to notice immediately, "Look! I'm wearing the socks you gave me."

He lifted his own pant leg high enough to let her glimpse penguins and bright turquoise, incongruous against the otherwise perfectly matching suit he was wearing. Even his tie perfectly matched his shirt. At his side, Merlin chortled.

Gwen's face softened, and she smiled up at him shyly. "All right, Arthur. Give me a call after Boxing Day."

Arthur dared to press a brief kiss to smiling lips, his own answering smile reflecting hers, "Now that is the best Christmas present I could possibly receive."


	9. Home Alone (T)

Prompt: Home alone- humour, based on the movie home alone: Arthur and Gwen are home alone and have to defend their home against crooks

**Home Alone – PG – Drama/Humor – Modern AU, implied sex**

Arthur shifted and punched the pillow beneath his head for the fifth time in as many minutes. He angrily pictured Guinevere, curled comfortably in their large king-sized bed upstairs. He could not even remember what had prompted his enraged stomp downstairs to his study, but now he was stretched out on the long leather sofa and desperately trying to sleep without his wife in his arms.

It was the week between Christmas and New Year. The Pendragon-Thomas children were skiing for a few days with the Grandies, as their seven-year old called his and her fathers together. After twelve years of raising three children, Arthur knew he should be taking as much advantage of their time alone together as possible. And yet, here he was – in the basement, in disgrace, and AWAY from his wife. Life was horrible – he was never going to get to sleep.

…

Upstairs, Gwen flopped onto her back. The bed felt so empty and cold without her husband's muscular warm length stretched next to her. She couldn't believe that he was so angry about her taking a spa day tomorrow. After all, she thought she had made it clear that some extra grooming was going to make for a memorable evening tomorrow. She had thought it would be fun, something special to punch up their few days sans children, sans work while their offices closed for the holidays.

'They couldn't spend *every* minute together, could they? Especially if he would not bring himself to enter a spa.' She would end up killing him if she could not do some of the things she wanted to; not unlike the brief screaming match they had just had an hour ago. After sixteen years of marriage, they should both know better than to pursue an argument right before bed-time when both of them were tired and more apt to be cranky.

A scuffling noise from the laundry room down the hall, shot her bolt upright in bed. She realized that the noises had actually been going on for several minutes. She had just been so deep in her funk, it had not impinged on her consciousness earlier. 'Arthur wouldn't be going outside, would he? Where was Arthur? Was someone trying to break in?'

Gwen crept from the bed, her long nightgown swirling around her, her feet silent on the hardwood floor in the thick socks she had donned after Arthur had stormed out earlier. She grabbed the aluminum baseball bat, just in case. She tamped down on the frisson of annoyance that he had left it leaning in the corner again. If there really was a burglar, now was not the time for that.

…

Outside the laundry room door, Gwaine tried again to get the hidden key into the door lock.

Next to him, Merlin blearily leaned against the shingled wall, "Why are we here, Gwaine? Why didn't we just go home?"

"'Cause the Pendragon fam-damily is away skiing, and their house is waaaaay closer than our place. I'm not stumbling another couple miles, just to sleep in my own bed. Which stinks by the way. Mate, y'got to do laundry sometime this century. I swear, the piles could gain sentience and eat us, they've gotten that big."

Merlin pouted, "I hate laundry. And we didn't have to stumble, we coulda called a taxi, you silly git."

"Nah, spent all my cash on booze. And if Lancelo' wasn' going to lend me any more, that wasn' goin' ta happen."

"Lancelot wanted to take you home himself."

"No, he didn't." Gwaine looked almost sober for a few seconds, while contemplating his hot friend's intentions. "He still secretly wants Gwen."

He fumbled with the key again. "And Gwen's been married to Mr. Perfect for the last few decades. Hey mate, why don' we find our true loves and settle down to happily ever after?"

Merlin exaggeratedly swung his head towards Gwaine, "'Cause mine died and you're too dumb to give anyone a fighting chance to woo you. Hurry it up, man, I'm freezing. And if I'm cold with this much alcohol in me, that's a bad thing."

…

Gwen could see the faint silhouette of one head through the window on the utility door. Thank goodness, the burglar had not just broken the window, but was instead trying to pick the lock. She backed into the hallway, intent on the phone in the kitchen.

Suddenly the handle turned and the door swept open. A man about her height, reeking of beer and smoke, stumbled in. She screamed and swung her bat, unfortunately just hitting the washer at her side in the narrow space.

…

Scream. Gwen. Stairs. Gwen. Kitchen. Gwen. Hallway.

Arthur saw Gwen's silhouette in front of the laundry room door, baseball bat held in front of her. He skidded on stocking feet between her and danger, grabbing the bat. Turning towards the intruders, he pressed her back against the wall.

"Wait! Stop!" The lights flashed on, momentarily blinding him. As his vision cleared, he saw Gwaine standing hands up, palms out. Merlin stood behind him with one hand on the switch, one hand outstretched towards him in the universal halt sign.

"Gwaine! Merlin! What are you doing here?" Gwen popped out from behind his back. Arthur stood frozen and mute, adrenaline still coursing through his veins. His fear for Gwen's safety changed to anger at his stupid, irresponsible, inconsiderate, crazy, drunken mates.

Neither Gwaine nor Merlin moved, their eyes still on Arthur. Merlin answered Gwen's question, "Gwen, sorry that we scared you. We thought you were gone for the week and your place is closer than ours to the RT bar."

"That's okay. The kids went skiing, but we decided to stay home. You can crash here if you want, but you'll have to take a shower. I'll get you towels and clothes in a just a moment." Arthur could tell that Gwen was using her deliberately peppy voice. She turned to him and started to pry his fingers from the bat. When he shifted his gaze down to her face, she smiled gently up at him, her eyes worried. He could feel Gwaine and Merlin relax as he turned; he was still hyperaware of what he considered the threat.

Once Gwen had successfully taken the bat from him, she led him by the hand down the hallway to their bedroom. She closed the door behind them and Arthur finally felt himself relax. But all his adrenaline needed to go somewhere, and he turned his focus to his wife. She met his kisses enthusiastically, stripping them both efficiently.

…

"I think they're having post-battle sex." Gwaine wandered into the living room.

"Shut up, Gwaine. I don't want to think about it. And don't SIT on ANYTHING!"

"Aw, c'mon, Merlin. Gwen will never know - she's otherwise occupied right now."

"Gwaine, man, she'll know. You stink and she'll smell it all over her nice clean house. How many fags did you have tonight? And after you swore that you were going cold-turkey?"

"Fine. I'm not sitting. She'd probably sic Arthur on me if she did find out. My gawd, Merlin, did you SEE his FACE?"

"Yeah, Gwaine. I NEVER want to be on the receiving end of that again." Merlin had always known that Arthur loved Gwen, but he just had not observed any overt signs of it for a while. At least he had not seen any signs besides the obvious not-running-and-screaming after the incessant daily chaos of raising three rambunctious children while holding down full-time jobs. But now burned into his brain was a picture of a towering Arthur defending his mate Gwen: weapon raised, muscles tense, eyes steely.

Merlin wandered back into the kitchen after Gwaine, bemusedly watching him stretch out on the tile floor.

"Ahhhh. There's nothing like radiant heat to comfort cold tushies. C'mon, Merlin, pull up some floor. They're going to be a while."

…

Gwen pressed herself into her husband's broad chest, feeling Arthur's thudding heart against her cheek.

"Guinevere," he gasped in her ear, "If you ever, ever confront an intruder again, I am going to… I am going to… I don't know what… Gwen, don't DO that.

"OK, Arthur. It's okay. It was Gwaine and Merlin. They weren't going to hurt me, hurt us."

"Guin-e-vere. You didn't know that. Come get me. I don't care if we just fought or whatever. I don't ever want to lose you. I love you." He tightened his arms protectively around her.

She sighed and snuggled sleepily underneath his chin. "I know. I love you too. Go get the boys towels and clothes, and then come back to me."

He gently rolled her off of him and stood up, pulling on his clothes. He padded out, throwing over his shoulder, "Your wish is my command, my love."

…

The next morning, Arthur poured himself a cup of coffee and added milk to Gwen's mug of tea. He could hear the snores of Gwaine and Merlin, only slightly muted by the bedroom doors.

"Maybe I could accompany you to your spa day?" he asked his cheerful wife as she bounced into the kitchen. Really good sex always made her especially giggly.

She turned to him, surprised, "What? Arthur Pendragon in a spa."

He replied, "Arthur Pendragon just wants to spend time with his wife. If she's going to be in a spa, then he'll be happy to accompany her."

Gwen laughed up at him, "You just want to escape the snoring."

Arthur gazed down at his beautiful wife and snugged her close, arms around her waist. "No, I want to spend time with my wife. But I can't deny that getting away from the farm animals is a bonus. Let me go with you."

"If you want to, I think it would be fun to have you come too." She reached up for a kiss, then twirled away. "Let me just get my purse and we can order breakfast during the first treatment." Gwen was halfway to the hall when she spun around again with a sudden thought. "But what about…"

Arthur wrinkled his nose at her, "Oh, let's just leave them. They may act like children, but they know where everything is. They'll be fine home alone."

_A/N: Cue ominous music. Dun-dun-dun-duuuunnnn... :)_


	10. Silent Knight (M)

Prompt: Silent Knight

**Silent Knight – R – Humor – Dirty Limerick**

I.

One day Arthur saw such a sight,  
That it struck him dumb with delight.  
'Twas his Guinevere,  
Alluring and bare,  
As she moaned, "Take me now, O my Knight."

II.

"What? Huh?" Arthur stopped as if stung  
Under where the mistletoe hung.  
His incoherence  
Changed to silence,  
As Gwen halted his words with her tongue.


	11. Sneaky Sneaks (M)

Prompt: A/G sneek off at one of their parents christmas dinner

**Sneaky Sneaks – R – Romance/Humor – Warning: sexual innuendos **

Gwen's nails dug into Arthur's muscular leg as he sat conversing genially with everyone. Five months pregnant with all of the attendant cravings - she was annoyed and uncomfortable. The party had been sitting down to dinner for over two hours and all Gwen could think about was the surprise Arthur had shown her when he had pulled up at the curb in front of his father's house.

Uther generally served a lovely Christmas dinner of roast goose with all the trimmings, however this year his new wife had determined to cook. Arthur's father would brook no discourtesy towards Catrina, but the rest of their extended family had mutually agreed that she had the tastes of a troll. No bacon, no cream or butter, no fresh vegetables, no sweets would ever be served by her. After picking at three courses, Guinevere was still starving, and the only thing that could distract her was her generous lover at her side.

Finally, Gwen could take it no longer and pushed back from the table. "Excuse me, everyone, I just need to lie down for a bit." She waved off the solicitous offers, "No, no, Arthur will attend me."

Arthur obediently stood and followed her out. He trailed her through the living room and down the long hallway to the guest bedroom they had been assigned.

Gwen flopped back spread-eagle across the bed. "All right, my darling husband, you know what I want."

Arthur crawled across her prone body. He speared a hand through her curling dark locks and kissed her seductively. "Yes, sweetheart, I know what you want."

The unwrapping tested her patience, but soon both of their senses were overwhelmed: they were prisoners' of their desire.

"Oh god, Arthur. So good… melting…"

"So sweet… Guinevere... Ohhh…"

But pregnancy is rarely comfortable, and they had to pause while Arthur helped her shift to a more comfortable position. Guinevere smiled at her husband, "Y'know, Leon's wife warned me I would need this like a drug addict when I hit this stage."

"Really? I can't tell if that is good or bad. I have to imagine that everyone is wondering if you are all right. But thank goodness, I get to escape with you."

"Well, we have at least a few minutes before Merlin comes looking to help. More."

Arthur kissed his wife sweetly, "Who am I to argue with my love, especially when she is carrying proof of it? All right, hang on."

Her blond husband laughed down at her, even while he continued to feed her desire. Lusty moans filled the bedroom once again. Arthur vaguely wondered if the others could hear them, but could not really bring himself to stop driving her impassioned responses, deriving too much enjoyment from the evidence of hers.

Through her haze of bliss, Gwen realized that Arthur had stopped and was staring intently at the door. Faintly she could hear Merlin and Morgana's voices approaching quickly. Knowing Merlin's penchant for peeking in without knocking, Arthur and Gwen valiantly tried to put the bedroom and themselves to rights, before their friends saw their indiscretion.

Too late.

The door cracked open, and then swung wide as Merlin and Morgana both drew in shocked breaths.

"I can't believe…"

"You brought chocolate!"


	12. Sugar and Spice (M)

Prompt: NC17 naughty or nice

_A/N: You're going to have to decide for yourself whether this is naughty or nice…_

**Sugar and Spice - NC-17 - Smut - Graphic Smut** 1/2

Slowly he drizzled the honey from the hollow of her neck, across her chest, up the slope of one breast and across to the other mound. He paused to dip the spoon back into the pot. Then he was back to draw random swirls across her belly and down towards his favorite hidden honey pot. Setting aside the spoon and pottery on his bedside table, he stood for a moment, admiring the glinting gold of the cinnamon-flecked honey in the firelight. Her skin shone a deeper bronze below the honey trails, pearlescent with a fine sheen of sweat as she twisted against the restraints locked to the pillars of his bed.

"Arthur," she moaned, her voice sending thrills of lust across his naked shoulders and down to his ass where the intensity pooled, stiffening his already hard cock against his belly.

The red and gold brocade bed hangings contrasted with the bright white of his sheets contrasted with the caramel of her skin, an increasing explosion of color at which she was the center. He crawled back onto his bed and over her, not quite believing that the woman he had spent years fantasizing about, worrying about, loving from afar was finally in his bed.

"Guinevere." Supporting himself on hands and toes above her, he lowered himself just far enough so that the slight hair on his chest tickled her taut nipples. Every time she arched her back to bring herself in contact with him, he pulled back, not allowing her to smear him with any of the luscious honey.

Minutes of teasing passed as he gauged her increasing demanding moans. Finally, he could take the sound of his name on her lips no longer and swooped in to seal her mouth with his own. His tongue delved for hers, to him her unique taste was sweeter than candy and more addictive than opium.

Sliding his lips across her cheek, she arched again, presenting the side of her neck where he noticed an errant bead of honey. Swooping down, he sucked the sweet drop from her glowing skin, the faint flowery scent of her soap in her hair an erotic counterpoint to the salty sweet on his palate.

Her moans grew deeper, more throaty, as he intensified the pressure of his lips on her neck. Still holding himself above her, he delicately rubbed his cock against her most sensitive point. They slid silkily across each other, back and forth, her natural lubrication copious and wet. As he applied pressure, advancing and retreating, coating his cock with her moisture, her breath hitched again and again, higher and higher until she wailed his name, her hips jerking uncontrollably.

Guinevere's orgasm continued to send shivers and clenches throughout her body, while Arthur laved the honey from her body. He had almost come in concert with her climax, and now he teased himself to the breaking point with the taste of her silky skin, every moan and ripple testing his control further. He had waited this long for her, he did not want his own part to end too soon.

He chased a thread of sweet across her breast, savoring the coarse bits of cinnamon he had mixed into the honey. Both ingredients cost dearly, even for a prince, but he could think of no finer use for them than gilding his lover. Her moans were mostly incoherent now, his name unrecognizable on her lips, even as she continued to ripple and arch against him. Arthur kissed her again, intent on sharing the taste treat with her. This time her tongue delved deep, chasing the taste of honey and him, a mindless seeking driven only by feeling.

When the trembling in his arms finally impinged on his concentrated focus of her, Arthur knelt between Guinevere's spread legs, bending to lick again at the gold adorning her belly. Following a drip down her side, he felt her jerk, her moan morphing to a snort of a laugh. Pretty soon the gasping he elicited from her lips, the ripples across her skin, and the jerks of her hips were all the result of evading his ticklish touch. She laughed so freely, so joyously, he could not help but join in, his own joy a warm weight expanding his love for her through his veins.

"I love you," he beamed at her.

"I love you too. Happy Winter Solstice."

"Thank you. I certainly don't know what I've done to deserve this gift, but I'm going to take as much advantage of it as I can, my love." Arthur bent his head again to clean the stickiness from her body and explore more of her sensitive areas.

When his tongue finally freed her of the sticky coating, he took advantage of her already clenched muscles and the adrenaline coursing through her veins from his tickling touch. He opened her nether lips with his thumbs, spanned her pelvis with his wide hands, and held down her legs with his forearms. Then he suckled her nub. The effect was intense and immediate. Her whole body arched up, her climax a short sharp cry on her lips, goose bumps suddenly appearing on every square inch of her skin.

Arthur lunged up her body, spearing her clenching cunt, one hand cupping her buttock pulling himself as deep as he could go, the other hand tangled in her hair, holding her head still as he gasped her name into her hair. His whole body was no longer under his guidance, the urge to bury himself in her his only priority and hers. They slammed against each other, their hips' dance a beating counterpoint to desperate breaths. With a loud groan coursing from his toes, Arthur unloaded his seed into Guinevere, spurting endlessly as she jerked around him.

A contented haze fell over his vision. Arthur had just enough presence of mind to untie Guinevere's hands and feet, before he rolled over and tucked her satiated body against him. He fell asleep whispering "I love you" into her fluffy locks.

…

Twenty years later, when cook personally served the now traditional cinnamon honey buns for the Winter Solstice feast, King Arthur still had to quickly adjust himself as Queen Guinevere squirmed in the seat by his side.


End file.
